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On the evening of October 15th, anyone interested could join our bat experts in the event of mist-netting bats in front of Petnica cave, which is less than a 10-minute walk from the Petnica Research Station. This cave is of great speleological, paleontological, and archeological importance. In addition, it provides a roosting place for many species of bats.
Early autumn is the perfect time to catch bats in the cave entrances because that is when swarming occurs, and many different species can be caught, both cave dwellers and forest-specialists. Swarming is a phenomenon of bats congregating around the roosting sites, as part of mating behavior or to teach young bats about hibernation sites.
Those interested to come will see how nets are mounted, how to extract bats out of the nets, and how to process them properly. Sometimes bats are marked with wing markers (“rings”) to passively monitor their migrations, roost usage, and lifespan. Our experts will demonstrate the ringing process (for which they are, of course, licensed), and show the participants how ultrasound detectors work.
